Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFINX)

TotalReturn:

'The total return on a portfolio of investments takes into account not only the capital appreciation on the portfolio, but also the income received on the portfolio. The income typically consists of interest, dividends, and securities lending fees. This contrasts with the price return, which takes into account only the capital gain on an investment.'

• Looking at the total return, or increase in value of 82.8% in the last 5 years of Vanguard 500 Index Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (82.8%)
• Compared with SPY (75.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value of 75.7% is greater, thus better.

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate isn't a true return rate, but rather a representational figure. It is essentially a number that describes the rate at which an investment would have grown if it had grown the same rate every year and the profits were reinvested at the end of each year. In reality, this sort of performance is unlikely. However, CAGR can be used to smooth returns so that they may be more easily understood when compared to alternative investments.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (12.9%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 12.9% of Vanguard 500 Index Fund is larger, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (20.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.8% is greater, thus better.

Volatility:

'Volatility is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index. Volatility can either be measured by using the standard deviation or variance between returns from that same security or market index. Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security. In the securities markets, volatility is often associated with big swings in either direction. For example, when the stock market rises and falls more than one percent over a sustained period of time, it is called a 'volatile' market.'

• Looking at the 30 days standard deviation of 17% in the last 5 years of Vanguard 500 Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.1%)
• Looking at historical 30 days volatility in of 15% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (15.3%).

DownVol:

'The downside volatility is similar to the volatility, or standard deviation, but only takes losing/negative periods into account.'

• Looking at the downside risk of 11.8% in the last 5 years of Vanguard 500 Index Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (11.8%)
• Compared with SPY (10.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside volatility of 10.2% is smaller, thus better.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio (also known as the Sharpe index, the Sharpe measure, and the reward-to-variability ratio) is a way to examine the performance of an investment by adjusting for its risk. The ratio measures the excess return (or risk premium) per unit of deviation in an investment asset or a trading strategy, typically referred to as risk, named after William F. Sharpe.'

• The Sharpe Ratio over 5 years of Vanguard 500 Index Fund is 0.61, which is higher, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (0.61) in the same period.
• Looking at risk / return profile (Sharpe) in of 1.22 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to SPY (1.19).

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio measures the risk-adjusted return of an investment asset, portfolio, or strategy. It is a modification of the Sharpe ratio but penalizes only those returns falling below a user-specified target or required rate of return, while the Sharpe ratio penalizes both upside and downside volatility equally. Though both ratios measure an investment's risk-adjusted return, they do so in significantly different ways that will frequently lead to differing conclusions as to the true nature of the investment's return-generating efficiency. The Sortino ratio is used as a way to compare the risk-adjusted performance of programs with differing risk and return profiles. In general, risk-adjusted returns seek to normalize the risk across programs and then see which has the higher return unit per risk.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.88) in the period of the last 5 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.88 of Vanguard 500 Index Fund is greater, thus better.
• Looking at excess return divided by the downside deviation in of 1.8 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus better in comparison to SPY (1.77).

Ulcer:

'The ulcer index is a stock market risk measure or technical analysis indicator devised by Peter Martin in 1987, and published by him and Byron McCann in their 1989 book The Investors Guide to Fidelity Funds. It's designed as a measure of volatility, but only volatility in the downward direction, i.e. the amount of drawdown or retracement occurring over a period. Other volatility measures like standard deviation treat up and down movement equally, but a trader doesn't mind upward movement, it's the downside that causes stress and stomach ulcers that the index's name suggests.'

• The Downside risk index over 5 years of Vanguard 500 Index Fund is 8.51 , which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (8.45 ) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 3.52 , which is larger, thus worse than the value of 3.52 from the benchmark.

MaxDD:

'A maximum drawdown is the maximum loss from a peak to a trough of a portfolio, before a new peak is attained. Maximum Drawdown is an indicator of downside risk over a specified time period. It can be used both as a stand-alone measure or as an input into other metrics such as 'Return over Maximum Drawdown' and the Calmar Ratio. Maximum Drawdown is expressed in percentage terms.'

• Looking at the maximum DrawDown of -24.6 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard 500 Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
• Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley of -18.8 days is greater, thus better.

MaxDuration:

'The Maximum Drawdown Duration is an extension of the Maximum Drawdown. However, this metric does not explain the drawdown in dollars or percentages, rather in days, weeks, or months. It is the length of time the account was in the Max Drawdown. A Max Drawdown measures a retrenchment from when an equity curve reaches a new high. It’s the maximum an account lost during that retrenchment. This method is applied because a valley can’t be measured until a new high occurs. Once the new high is reached, the percentage change from the old high to the bottom of the largest trough is recorded.'

• Looking at the maximum days below previous high of 488 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard 500 Index Fund, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (488 days)
• Compared with SPY (87 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 87 days is larger, thus worse.

AveDuration:

'The Average Drawdown Duration is an extension of the Maximum Drawdown. However, this metric does not explain the drawdown in dollars or percentages, rather in days, weeks, or months. The Avg Drawdown Duration is the average amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs), or in other terms the average of time under water of all drawdowns. So in contrast to the Maximum duration it does not measure only one drawdown event but calculates the average of all.'

• The average days below previous high over 5 years of Vanguard 500 Index Fund is 120 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (119 days) in the same period.
• Looking at average days below previous high in of 20 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (20 days).